Journal profile · MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Pragmatic and Observational Research
ISSN 1179-7266
Pragmatic and Observational Research: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.7 (journal website); JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 3,230; median 155 days to acceptance (32 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 18% (journal website); 22 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Pragmatic and Observational Research is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Asthma and respiratory diseases, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research and Delphi Technique in Research, together about 36.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Editor-in-Chief: Professor David Price Pragmatic and Observational Research is an international, peer reviewed, open access journal that publishes data from studies designed to reflect more closely medical interventions in real-world clinical practice compared with classical randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Classical RCTs are designed to maximise internal validity and to establish an unequivocal cause-and-effect relationship between an intervention and an outcome. Classical RCT populations represent only minority groups of real-life patients and are thus limited in their extent. Complementary data from studies designed to reflect more closely the nature of real-world patients and medicines usage are required to inform guidelines and extrapolate research findings across the broad heterogeneous patient populations encountered in everyday clinical practice. The journal publishes data from prospective and retrospective studies designed to evaluate outcomes associated with real-world clinical practice. Dissemination of this data and the techniques and approaches used to optimise real-world modeling allows outcome validation and improved standards and collaboration in this growing area of research. Pragmatic and Observational Research will no longer consider meta-analyses for publication. The journal is characterized by the rapid reporting of reviews, original research, methodologies, analytics, modeling, clinical studies and patient surveys across all disease areas. Specific topics covered in the journal include: Pragmatic clinical trials Prospective and retrospective observational studies Quantitative and qualitative real-world research Data collection systems Comparison of non-pharmacological interventions in the real world Comparison of pharmacological interventions in the real world Comparison of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions in the real world Reviews of clinical databases and data capture Valid of proxy outcome measures in real-world studies Statistical approaches to patient matching in real-world studies Validation of real-world results Derivation of gold standards in real-world research Best practice and guideline reviews in real-world research Patient preference, satisfaction, convenience, acceptability and adherence Patient reported outcomes in derivation of meaningful research outcomes and study endpoints. In addition to adhering to the editorial policies specified for Dove and T&F journals, as of July 2024 the Editor-in-Ch
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Editor-in-chief David PricePublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 10, United States 5, Singapore 3, South Korea 2, Spain 2 (31 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Asthma and respiratory diseasesMedicine14%
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) ResearchMedicine11.9%
- Delphi Technique in ResearchSocial Sciences10.4%
- Respiratory and Cough-Related ResearchMedicine6.2%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.2%
- Atrial Fibrillation Management and OutcomesMedicine3.6%
- Heart Failure Treatment and ManagementMedicine3.6%
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchMedicine3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 21OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 60OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.31OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 22LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 19,367Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 175 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| 2025 | 22 | 22 | 32 |
| 2024 | 22 | 22 | 85 |
| 2023 | 13 | 13 | 111 |
| 2022 | 9 | 9 | 88 |
| 2021 | 12 | 12 | 243 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
155 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 124 days – 192 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 22 days (32 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 188 days
- Sample
- 32 articles with submission and acceptance dates (35 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 18%Publisher website ·
- Desk decision
- 72 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 15 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 3,230 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted2
- case reportAuthors may use these detailed descriptions of different paper types accepted by Dove Medical Press (case reports, reviews, etc) to decide how to label their pa…Length not stated
- reviewAuthors may use these detailed descriptions of different paper types accepted by Dove Medical Press (case reports, reviews, etc) to decide how to label their pa…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics
- Publication ethics
Member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Model summary
This journal is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- ISSN
- 1179-7266
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Pragmatic and Observational Research
What CAS zone is Pragmatic and Observational Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Pragmatic and Observational Research is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Medicine, General & Internal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Pragmatic and Observational Research?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.7 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; h-index 21.
How long does peer review take at Pragmatic and Observational Research?
Based on the dates recorded on 32 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 155 days (interquartile range 124–192 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 18%. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What JCR quartile is Pragmatic and Observational Research in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Medicine.
Where are the editorial board members of Pragmatic and Observational Research based?
Of the 31 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (10), United States (5) and Singapore (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Pragmatic and Observational Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Pragmatic and Observational Research is indexed in ESCI and DOAJ.
Is Pragmatic and Observational Research open access, and what is the APC?
Pragmatic and Observational Research is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,230.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, DOAJ, OpenAlex; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .